WASHINGTON -- Enough already. President Barack Obamas admirable quest for bipartisanship is a voice crying in the wilderness.

Oh yes, he has another chance at bat when he hosts a summit meeting Feb. 25 at Blair House, the presidents guest house across the street from the White House.

He has invited the leaders of both parties to the televised meeting designed to "jump start" the discussion about health care reform.

Obama said he does not want the talks to devolve into political theater. "I want a substantive discussion," he said.

The summit follows Obama's televised sparring with House Republicans at their retreat in Baltimore last month. Many Democrats believe Obama succeeded for the first time in months in making his case to the public. If they play true to form, the Republicans will continue to buck every proposal with a Democratic tag on it. Since Obama took office the-not-so loyal opposition has said "no" to every Democratic legislative initiative. They walk in lockstep.

Apparently, Republicans think they have the Democrats on the run because of the election of Republican Sen. Scott Brown to fill the seat held by the late Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts. Its easy to overstate the significance of Browns victory if one ignores the historical trend that the party in power almost always loses seats in midterm elections.

As shown by recent polls there is no question Obama has lost some popular ground because he has been making tough decisions -- the difference he has found between campaigning and governing.

Some critics have contended that it was a mistake for the president to emphasize health reform instead of jobs creation in view of the nearly 10 percent unemployment rate. Obama now has made jobs the main focus of the administration.

At the same time, Americans are having a hard time defining Obamas politics. He has caved on many issues in pursuit of his goal of pleasing all factions. He could be called "the great compromiser" but the Republicans apparently see his attempts to get along as a weakness, an Achilles heel that they want to exploit.

The president gave away his needed leadership in the health reform debate by catering to Congress to draft the main framework, hoping to avoid Hillary Clintons big mistake in bypassing Capitol Hill in her failed 1993 blueprint for universal health care.

In my opinion, Obama blew it big time when he refused to fight for a single payer program like Social Security and Medicare -- essential government programs-- to meet the needs of a reported 31 million uninsured Americans.

The insurance companies poured millions into a campaign against almost any reform for fear that they might lose their power to charge high premiums. And they have won.

As a result of his non-support of a government health plan, Obama disappointed liberals in his party. So he faces solid Republican opposition without solid Democratic support. Thats a bad combination.

Helen, no matter how you try to spin it, The Zero has not even tried to talk to Republicans for them to say “NO.” They have been excluded from all talks and the Dems even changed the door locks on the conference rooms so the Republicans could not get in. The fact o fthe matter is HE had a SUPER MAJORITY a in BOTH houses and couldn’t get his socialist agenda through. He didn’t need a single Republican vote for anything. Now that the game has gotten into the ninth inning he needs a few Republicans to try and make the case for a “bipartisan” solution, he looks weak and incompetent. And the People know it...................

8
posted on 02/18/2010 12:15:11 PM PST
by Red Badger
(Education makes people easy to lead, difficult to drive; easy to govern, but impossible to enslave.)

“As shown by recent polls there is no question Obama has lost some popular ground because he has been making tough decisions — the difference he has found between campaigning and governing”

When you elect a guy to be President who only spent 2 years in the Senate, and expect him to lead Congress filled with people who have been there for 20-30 years, it’s not gonna happen. the guy’s lack of experience or seniority is showing and that’s why his numbers are down.

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